Chapter 4 – Sacrifices

• "Just how many children are you two going to have?"
• "They'll probably have about a dozen! The palace is going to be littered with princes and princesses!!" The maids exploded in laughter.
• "Ugh, will you two stop?!" Ashina screamed as her face flushed with red. She was embarrassed. At home, Ertha and Reyna, her maids, never missed the chance to talk and make fun of the affair between Princess and Ashina and Decker Hemming, son of the council chief. Ashina's voice didn't stop the maids from laughing. After all, it reeked of her embarrassment. The poor princess hid her face behind her palms.
• "I'm dead serious now. If both of you keep up with this, you might mess up my hair," Ashina warned, seriously, after she had rid herself of the shame. Noticing her serious tone, Ertha and Reyna stopped their laughter abruptly.
• "Forgive us, Princess!" Ertha apologized and they both concentrated on the Ashina's hair they were braiding. These three were in Ashina's room. Ashina sat at the edge of her grand bed while both maids, with their kneels on the bed, were behind her, working on her hair. Ashina let out a sigh. Despite the embarrassment, she was enjoying having her legs pulled by her maids. They had taken her tone too seriously; they stopped speaking completely.
• "Well, I sure can't wait till Decker and I become King and Queen!" Ashina said with a giggle, trying to reignite the convo.
• "Neither can we, my princess! "We're sure our kingdom will be in good hands," Ertha said.
• "I think the same! Well, hopefully, Decker won't get himself killed before we get the chance to witness that," Reyna chipped in. Ertha gasped.
• "Reyna, how dare you?" "Ertha Reyna said with a glare. Ashina's jaw dropped and her eyebrows lowered in reaction to Reyna's words.
• "Excuse me?" Ashina asked Reyna.
• "Forgive me for speaking in that manner, my princess! I saw Decker head out with some soldiers to go fight a berserker who was spotted in one of the villages on the outskirts. I regret putting it out the way I did!" Reyna begged.
• "Why did I just blurt out anything? Do you realize that your words must have hurt the princess? " Ertha scolded her fellow maid.
• "It's okay, Ertha. "I'm sure she won't ever repeat it," Ashina said, trying to calm the infuriated Ertha.
• "I need to clear my head. You both have the option of leaving. I'll send it to you later to continue the braiding," Ashina said to her maids. At once, they alighted from the bed, bowed towards the princess, and left the room. Ashina let out a sigh. Reyna's words had drained her of all her energy. She was not mad at Reyna. She was scared because sometimes she also thought the same thing. Decker's love always puts him in danger by not letting a chance to fight enemies slide. He was of a noble family, so he never had to put himself out there, but he always did. Ashina didn't like this. It was the only thing she despised about Decker. If anything, ever happened to him, she highly doubted she was going to be able to bear it. She had to talk to Decker. It was going to be the umpteenth time, but she was going to do it regardless. If Decker truly loved her, maybe he was going to stop.
• The door to her room opened abruptly and she heard footsteps. Ashina didn't bother looking to see who it was. No maid or guard had the guts to barge into her room. It could only be one person. Her mother. Queen Leah walked over to the side of the bed where Ashina sat and sat beside her.
• "You were entertaining your maids again, weren't you? I've warned you so many times that if you keep on being so casual with them, they will lose respect for you!" Queen Leah scolded her daughter. Ashina didn't budge. She remained still, her eyes fixed on the floor. It was like no one had spoken. It was like no one had come into the room. Queen Leah noticed something was wrong. She moved closer to Ashina and placed a hand on her shoulder.
• "What is wrong, my child?" The Queen asked, worried.
• "It's nothing," Ashina murmured. The Queen wasn't buying that. She giggled as she knew exactly what was up. Her daughter was really easy to read.
• "Is this about your little boyfriend? Did he join the soldiers again? Why do you worry about my daughter? Let the man be a man! " She advised At this point, Ashina raised her head and looked her mother in the eyes.
• "What if he dies one of these days?" She asked the Queen with a blank stare.
• "Sacrificing his life for the sake of his kingdom would be an honorable thing. He would die an honorable death, "the Queen answered with a straight face. Ashina gasped. She didn't expect her mother to be so blunt. What she wanted was assurance that her love was not going to die. She thought her mother didn't know how to treat a child. She scoffed and looked away. Queen Leah remained quiet. She let her daughter take her time as the news she had brought could break her daughter. Several moments of silence passed, and then Queen Leah felt it was time to speak.
• "The same way a warrior sacrificing his life for his kingdom is honorable, a princess sacrificing her desires for the sake of her kingdom is honorable too." She said. Ashina remained quiet. She now wished to ignore her mother. Moments after she had processed those words, she knew they could not be ignored.
• "What do you mean by that?" She asked her mother, with an eyebrow raised. Queen Leah could not look her daughter in the eyes. She was about to shatter her heart with this. She hated that she had to do this, but she had no choice.
• "King Roy wants you to marry his son." This will bring peace to our kingdoms, and then we can fight the berserkers together." She said, not mincing her words. There was no way she could make that sound pleasant to Ashina. After a moment of silence, Ashina giggled. This surprised Queen Leah. It was not the reaction she had expected.
• "Oh dear, that man sure gets jokes! My mood has lightened! We should think of a classy way to turn down his proposal! Do you have any ideas?" The now jolly Ashina asked her mother. Queen Leah turned to look at her in the face. Ashina's eyes flashed, and she had a broad grin. She was genuinely amused. This saddened Queen Leah greatly. She lowered her head to hide the tears that had gathered in her eyes. She hated that her daughter was happy. She didn't like that she was about to rid herself of that happiness. It was too late. Ashina had already noticed the tears. She giggled again, and this time it was one of confusion. She wondered why her mother wept.
• "Is there something you're not telling me?" Ashina asked, squinting. She was worried. Queen Leah raised her head, sniffed, and wiped her eyes. This had to be done. She looked her daughter straight in the eyes.
• "You will be leaving for Scyta in less than two weeks from now. You will become Prince Juan's luna. By doing so, you become a hero to us all! The people of Scyta will become our allies! " She said it strongly, showing no emotion. Ashina's eyes widened in shock. She wondered what her mother meant by all that. She shook her head from side to side, doubting that she had heard right. Not at all. She had heard right. It was a lot to process. She felt like her head was going to split open. She began to breathe heavily. Her heart beat faster. She thought the room was getting warmer as she began to sweat. She stood and paced back and forth. Her mom watched her do all this. Though her face didn't show it, her heart wept. She hated herself for putting her only daughter through all this.
• Finally, Ashina stopped her pacing and stood before her. Ashina gave her mother the iciest stare.
• "Mother, unlike King Roy, your jokes are the worst. Did you not mean all that you just said? " Ashina asked the Queen most coldly.
• "I meant every word. You should start-"
• "You better stop messing with me!!" Ashina roared, interrupting her mother, who was speaking calmly.
• "You will restrain yourself right now," Queen Leah warned her daughter calmly.
• "Or what?! You'll send me to the land of the enemies right away?" Ashina growled. Her teeth were bare and her canines had noticeably grown. Her hazel eyes had turned back to black. Furiously, she ran her fingers through her blonde hair. It was like she had gone crazy. She was trying to morph into her iota form. The Iota form of the werewolf was the form where they only gained sharpened nails and fangs. This was the step taken before morphing into a full werewolf. Seeing that Ashina was having trouble restraining herself, Queen Leah rose.
• "You dare try to morph in the presence of your Queen? Surrender now," Queen Leah ordered calmly, but in the fearsome voice of the Luna. At the sound of this voice, every being in Arthenis fell. At once, Ashina fell to her knees. Her canines shrieked to their normal size. Being rendered powerless, she resorted to crying. She mumbled incoherent things as she choked on her sobs. Queen Leah could not bear the sight of her daughter like this. She wished she could understand. She was frustrated now. Her tears, which she had tried hard to hold back, began to roll down her cheeks. She had to make Ashina understand.
• Ashina, please stop it! Rise and wipe your tears!! Don't you get it?! Doing this will make the Scytans allies! We can't afford to keep fighting them! Even as we speak, our warriors are dying out there! We can't afford to fight both them and the berserkers! We will be consumed!! We need them!" Queen Leah barked at Ashina, who was still lying at her feet. It was like she was attempting to force her to understand. Well, her attempt was futile.
• "So I'm now some sort of pawn? Even if you must stoop so low to make peace with the people who killed your father, why use me? What happened to sign treaties? " Ashina cried as she raised her head and gripped her mother's leg.
• "Oh, Ashina, do you have to open old wounds?! Your father died at the hands of a berserker! Marriage is important because the peace we seek is a solid one! Blood should be involved! " Queen Leah cried as well. She let herself fall to her knees and tried to wipe the tears from Ashina's face. She almost could not recognize her daughter, thanks to her tear-stained face and sad expression. Ashina barely ever cried. Queen Leah tried to make her understand calmly now. She held her daughter's head in between both of her palms, looked into her eyes, and spoke softly.
• "Ashina, please listen! I realize that I'm demanding so much of you, but please, do this for me! Your father left a huge burden on me, and I'm crushing under the weight! Please help me take off some of the load, please!" The Queen pleaded with her daughter. They both cried in front of each other, not minding showing how vulnerable they were.
• "But... but mother... Deck... Decker! What about my plans with Decker? " Ashina asked, sniffing in between her words as she battled with her runny nose. The Queen pulled her daughter into a hug.
• "His father knows." He will talk to him too. " She answered. She ran her fingers through her daughter's hair as she whispered in her ear.
• "This kingdom will never forget your selfless act, Ashina, I promise. Ashina couldn't care less about her mother's words. All she did was wonder how she could still end up with Decker amidst all that was going on. She was poised to.